The invention relates to the technical field of machines with automatic or semi-automatic cutting used to dispense strips of material having a given format or selected format. These wipe dispensing machines have numerous uses for hand wipes, toilet paper and other wipes.
The Applicant holds a large number of patents, granted both in France and internationally, that relate to this type of dispensing machine. In order to make the object of the invention readily understandable, FIG. 1 shows a general dispensing machine of this type. This machine comprises, in a housing (1), a drum (2) that includes a mechanism for cutting (3) a strip of material originating from a reel of material (4). This reel is either hung from support side plate (5) on the housing of the machine in a plane that is perpendicular to the back wall or said reel of material rests on the actual drum itself. The drum has ends that form protruding fingers that rest against and allow centering on the housing's accommodating side plate. To achieve this and in this case, the drum has, over its length and over its peripheral edge, a gripping area that allows the strip of material to be held fast in order to facilitate its unwinding. Alternatively and as shown in FIG. 1, a pressure roller (6) presses against the drum. The gap between them leaves clearance for the strip of material. The drum has parallel intermediate discs with a notch leaving clearance for the blade-holder. This is described in French Patent No. 2701016.
Depending on the quality of the wipe material, which is generally made of cellulose wadding, and its thickness, which varies depending on the particular market (European or American for example), it is necessary to ensure paper retention under optimum conditions. The Applicant has thus proposed designing the drum with means to ensure retention of the strip of material either by using hook-and-loop type strips that are therefore rough or by using sleeves made of an elastomer material arranged along the drum over all or part of its surface, apart from the area through which the cutting blade moves.
This is described, for example, in the Applicant's French Patent No. 8319815/2555975. The latter also makes provision for designing the drum with a plurality of parallel discs, arranged along the longitudinal axis of the drum, on which the strip of material to be cut rests (French Patent No. 2701016).
The proposed solutions have proved satisfactory in a very large number of industrial applications.
There nevertheless remains the problem of changes in the characteristics of the wipe material and also the durability of the elastomer sleeves which have a tendency to lose their ability to adhere to the actual drum and no longer retain the strip of wipe material.